The treatment of childhood diseases has long been closely associated with the practice of obstetric aid, the healing of female diseases. and the development of infectious diseases. This is evidenced by the works of outstanding doctors of the ancient world (Soran from Ephesus, Ga-Len) and the Middle Ages (Abu Bakr al-Razi, who gave a classic description of smallpox and measles, Ibn Sina and others). Special essays on children's diseases began to appear in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

In the XVI — XVII centuries. Many childhood diseases have been described and studied: whooping cough (G. de Baillou, 1578), rickets (F. Glisson, 1650) and others.

In the XVII — XVIII centuries. The greatest contribution to the study of childhood diseases was made by English doctors. Thomas Sidengam (Sydenham, Thomas, 1624-1689) described a number of diseases: scarlet fever, which gave the name scarlet fever, rheumatic chorea, gout, whooping cough, rubella, erysipelas, etc. In an effort to systematize the diseases, he contributed to the development of the nosological direction in medicine. All the diseases Sidengam divided into acute (from God) and chronic (from ourselves). He regarded the disease as “the effort of nature to restore health by removing the invading pathogenic principle” and sought to learn the healing powers of the organism itself, advocated practical training in medicine at the patient’s bed. W. Cadogan (W. Cadogan) compiled the work “The Experience of Feeding and Caring for Children from Birth to Three Years,” G. Amstrong (G. Armstrong) wrote “An Essay on the Most Dangerous Children's Diseases”, M. Underwood (M. Underwood) prepared an extensive guide on childhood diseases. Of great importance was the discovery by E. Jenner of the method of vaccination against smallpox (see p. 244).

In Russia, the first works on diseases and the upbringing of children were made by S. G. Zybelin (1775) and Ya. M. Maksimovich-Ambodik (see p. 300). The fifth book of his work, “The Art of Survival, or the Science of the Babi Case” (1784–1786), is entirely devoted to childhood diseases (smallpox, measles, rickets, worms, as well as the characteristics of full-term and premature fetus, care, feeding, etc. ).

In the XIX century. pediatrics (from the Greek. pai-dos - the child and iatreia - treatment) began to take shape as an independent scientific discipline. The first hospital for children was opened in Paris in 1802. It became the leading center of Europe for the first half of the 19th century. on training specialists in the field of childhood diseases. Outstanding doctors of that time were representatives of the French pediatric school: P. Bretono (PF Vge-tonneau), who studied diphtheria and croup in children; S. Billiard (Ch. Billiard), who created the atlas of the pathological anatomy of childhood diseases; well-known clinician-experimenter A. Trousseau (A. Trousseau), who developed the tracheotomy operation in children. In 1844, the first nurseries for children were opened in France, and in 1892 the Scientific Society of Pediatric Physicians was organized.

The second in Europe (and the first in Russia) special children's hospital with 60 beds was founded in St. Petersburg in 1834 (now the Children's Infectious Diseases Hospital No. 18 named after NF Filatov in St. Petersburg). In 1842, the first Moscow Children's Hospital for 100 beds was opened - the world's first hospital for young children (now DK.B. No. 13 named after NF Filatov). Both were supported by charitable funds.

Stepan Fomich Khotovitsky (1796-18585) was the founder of scientific pediatrics in Russia. Having become an ordinary professor of the Department of Obstetrics, Women's and Children's Diseases, he first began to read (from 1836) a separate course of children's diseases from 36 lectures and in 1847 published it in ras-. shirennom. a form called "Pidiyatrika." This was the first in Russia original pediatric manual in which the children's organism was studied in view of its anatomical and physiological features, which change qualitatively in the development process.

In the second half of the XIX - early XX century. Pediatrics has become an independent subject of teaching in medical faculties. The first department of childhood diseases was organized in the middle of the XIX century. in Germany, which at the time was at the forefront of pediatrics.

In Russia, the first docenture on the course of children's diseases was opened in 1861 at the Department of Obstetrics, Women's and Children's Diseases of the St. Petersburg Medical and Surgical Academy (headed by I. I. Radetsky). The first independent department of childhood diseases in Russia was also established in the Moscow Academy of Arts in 1870-1876. Its founder, Ya. I. Bystroe (1841-1906), developed the first program of teaching pediatrics, including issues of hygiene, physical education of children and the organization of their treatment. In 1885, under his leadership, the first Russian scientific society of pediatricians was created. In 1897, after the departure of N. I. Bystrov, Ya. P. Gundobin (1860-4908) was elected professor of the department. His works "General and Private Therapy of Children's Age" (1896) and "Features of Childhood" (1906) were included in the golden fund of national and world medicine.

At Moscow University, the first clinic for children's diseases was established in 1866. Pediatrics began teaching in theoretical (1861) and then practical (-1866) courses at the Department of Obstetrics, Women's and Children's Diseases, which N. A. Tolsky read (1832-1891 ), and was completed by the organization in 1888 of an independent department of childhood diseases. Since 1891 it was headed by N. F. Filatov.

Neil Fedorovich Filatov (1847–1902) - “One of the founders of Russian pediatrics, the founder of a large scientific school, developed the clinical and physiological direction (Fig. 140). He first identified and described chicken pox (1872) and scarlet-tained rubella (1885), and he discovered an early sign of measles — a pityiform peeling of the epithelium on the oral mucosa (Filatov-Velsky-Koplik spots). His works “Semiotics and Diagnostics of Children's Diseases”, “Lectures on Acute Infectious Diseases in Children” and “A Short Textbook of Children's Diseases” were reprinted many times. Filatov’s lectures, recorded and published by his students S. Vasiliev, V. Grigoriev and G. Speransky, were very popular. In 1892 NF Filatov organized the Moscow Society of Pediatric Physicians. The formation and development of pediatrics as an independent scientific discipline is associated with the activities of many prominent doctors in the world. Among them are KA Rauffus, D. A. Sokolov, A. .. N. Shkarin, N. S. Korsakov, V. B. Zhukovsky, G. N. Speransky, I. V. Troitsky (Russia), K. Pirke (Austria), M. Pfaundler (Germany), V. Yutinel and J. Kruche (France), G. Koplik and J. Getchinson (England), and many others.

In 1902, advanced pediatricians from various European countries came to the idea of ​​combining their efforts and created the League to combat child mortality, which, despite the active work of individual doctors, was still high. The first International Congress on the Preservation of Infancy was held in Berlin in 1911. That was the beginning of international cooperation in the field of pediatrics.